Home Decor on the Cheap!

So this is my new wall decor. Total cost? $1.99! The frame came from a thrift shop and I printed the butterfly on the page from my printer...stuck a few odds and ends on the page and Ta-da!! A great framed piece of art for almost nothing!

The Fourth of July

 This year we decided to go the Monument 4th of July parade...it's hot and long but I don't think the 4th is right without a parade.

 Gotta love the Shriner cars!

 The King and Queen from the Colorado Renaissance festival. Imagine marching through a parade in 40 lbs of velvet!

 The knights from the festival!

 And and elephant too! Very cool!

And a pink car is awesome!

My battery on my camera died after this but it was fun! I love parades and I love that my birthday is on the 4th of July!!

My Progress

So on the 1st and 2nd I went shopping for two weeks worth of groceries (we have milk delivered so I don't have to worry about going back mid week) and with about an hour's worth of planning and coupon clipping I was able to get our groceries for under $200 and saved a total of $122.92! or 61%! Everything I bought was something that we will use for meals in these two weeks and something that we would most likely have bought without a coupon. I was so happy with one of my shopping trips that I had to call my mom to let her know...she's good at humoring me! Every little bit I save means more money to play with later! YAY!

Pammy Lou's Visit!

 Two weeks ago I was invited by Lynn LeMieux (another dance teacher and TCRG at our dance school) to sing at the Breckenridge Celtic Festival. I've sung Irish songs during music competitions at a feis, but singing into a microphone over loud speakers is an entirely different thing. I was really nervous and forgot the lyrics to my songs a few times and just wanted to hide after a while.

 Jeffrey still likes to cuddle with me. It's my favorite thing ever!

 Our impromptu singing group.

 The dancers who performed after us.

 Jeffrey couldn't decide what he wanted to have painted on his face, so daddy came up with the idea of having them paint Thomas on his hand. I thought it looked a little bit like a bottle with a smiley face on it.

 Me and my cute sister! So yes, I have braces and went with a much darker hair color. Now you all know!

 Enjoying lunch in Breckenridge.

 My cute Cory.

Jeffrey and Aunt Pammy in Garden of the Gods.

A Change in the Blog...

So as of July First our blog is actually titled, the Sergeant First Class, the Dancer and the Bean. Cory earned his promotion and got the title SFC MacNeil on July First. I'm very proud of him, he's an amazingly hard worker and deserves this promotion!

Ruffles and Stuff

I've recently stumbled onto this blog, Ruffles and Stuff. Can we say new obsession?

I am a self proclaimed girly girl! And as we girly girls know, the style comes and goes, sometimes things are lacy and frilly and sometimes things are straight and plain. I am so glad that recently the trends seem to be lacy and frilly and vintage inspired. But since I am not a working girl (outside of a few hours teaching dance each week) I don't have the budget to buy every amazing thing that I see. But I was blessed with an amazing talented mother who taught me by example the motto of "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" and so my new adventure in life if going to be turning boring things that I wouldn't wear (like a hideous vinyl cosmetic case) into an adorable headband like this one.

Good part is that I already have an amazing photographer husband who can document it all for me!

The one thing this may require me to do that I haven't done before is go to a thrift shop. I am also a self-proclaimed germaphobe and wearing other peoples clothes is one of those areas I haven't been able to face as an adult. But I'm sure if I go in armed with some good hand sanitizer and some good detergent back home I'm going to be able to do it! First project? Lengthen my cute denim skirt that it about 4" too short and make it wearable again!

First Preplanned Shopping Trip

So Today I went to Walgreens (I've never shopped there before) and Safeway to pick up a few things on my list. I had coupons for everything (in some cases two since you can use a store coupon and a manufacturer's coupon on one item at most places) and went in for just the things I had on my list. Some of my better buys were 6 nestle crunch bars for $1.56 and 2 boxes of cereal for $2.00 each. Everything I bought was on my list and were things that I needed.

My totals:

Total before coupons $61.52

Total after coupons $34.13

I even got a rain check on the boxes of mac and cheese that were on sale but out of stock.

Coupons

So I've seen that show Extreme Couponing a few times, I think those people are crazy, but I do want to learn how to save money on our monthly food bill. I found this website and it was really helpful to watch some of her videos to learn some of the tricks of using coupons. I've been getting the newspaper the last few months on Sundays to clip the coupons, the record for the amount I've saved was $40 on a $150 grocery trip. With a little more planning I want to up that amount each week until I can say that we're almost saving 50% of what we're spending right now...that's the goal and I know it will take time to learn the ins and outs, but if some crazy lady can buy 100 boxes of pasta for $.37 I can save a few hundred dollars a month by planning ahead and looking for the best deal.

Splash Park

 On Tuesday Jeffrey and I went to a splash park with my friend and her kids. In true Jeffrey fashion it took him a while to warm up to the idea of running through the water.

 Once he started he didn't want to stop! He had so much fun!

Jeffrey is a HUGE Phineas and Ferb fan! In one episode one of the characters Buford wears a paper bag on his head during a jump in the mud stunt and Jeffrey (owing to his incredible ability to remember small details) wanted one of his own. Here's the one Cory made him...

Here's a reference so you get the idea.

Saturday and Sunday

A good day starts with the panda kind (Cheerios with Kung Fu Panda on the box). 

Acme movers - we do a bang up job. The ward pitched in to help three families move this weekend. 

Can you find Jeffrey in this ridiculous pile of clothes?

Jeffrey finally earned his farm set. We asked him to do some things around the house and now they are finally becoming habits. 

His shake shake bridge is still a play time favorite. 

Jeffrey checking under the bed for a missing toy part. 

Jeffrey and I reenacted Wallace and Grommit's adventure on the cheese moon several times. I thought he was making a lot of it up until we watched the episode later in the evening. I was then amazed at how accurate and detailed our reenactment had been.

What's been keeping me busy?

 My new skirt, The Stella Skirt from Lila Tueller. I got the fabric when I was home in Utah from Material Girls.

 This was the second pattern (the Calista skirt,Lila Tueller) that came with another one that I bought. I had these fabrics stashed away for a quilt, but I don't quilt, I'm just not very good at it!

 The Barcelona skirt. LOVE it!! I got the fabric for the next projects from our own little Fabric shop, Crafty Laine.

 My new favorite skirt!! The Athena Skirt from Lila Tueller. Love it!

 The London Peasant Dress.

 Funked Out Peasant blouse.

My new church bag, the Amy Butler Birdie sling. Perfect size!!

Peanut Butter Sandwich

Peanut butter sandwiches are like Oreos. They are fun to open up and lick away the insides.

Play and Work

A stake conference held in our building put church off until the afternoon. I spent the morning playing with Jeffrey and his birthday toys. 

With work finally under control I am able to get back in school. There are two and possibly three taking my place doing the work that I did all alone for ten months.

Super Jeffrey

My first Saturday back home I slept in late. Sometimes you have to take advantage of the opportunity to do nothing.

While Tricia went to dance, Jeffrey went to play with his neighborhood friends. I stayed inside for a while to get some cleaning done. To a limited extend I enjoy cleaning and organizing. I would not want to be a housekeeper for other people. I do however; find enjoyment in it within my own house. 

Jeffrey came running inside to get his super hero cape. He had to warn to his friends that he is a superhero and show off his J. The wind can blow hard around our house. Jeffrey wanted his cape to blow in the wind to impress his friends. 

Next, I took Jeffrey to Spruce Mountain Open Space. Jeffrey calls it Spruce Spruce Mountain. On our way, we needed gas. Jeffrey loves to assist pumping gas. 

We all ended the night together watching The Green Hornet. Do not waste your time with this movie. I had a fun time just spending time with Tricia and Jeffrey.

Back from the Field

I am back from the field. I spent ten days at Training Area 40 playing Army. Going to the field for an exercise is usually a fun adventure, but this time I knew I would be working in the Tactical Operations Center. That is not fun.

By day two MAJ Law did take me out of the TOC to be his driver and assistant Observer Controler. As OC we watch each platoon recieve its mission, plan, prepare, conduct the mission and then share our observations.

My sleeping space was the back of HQ3. I could have taken a cot into a tent, but then I would be subject to many disturbances as there are many sleeping schedules when conducting 24 hour operations. The bed of the truck is a little hard, but it is always quiet and warm since the truck has a heater. My pillow was a roll of engineer tape tucked under the sleeping bag.

With the exercise over it is time to clean up. Day two of clean up is tents. SGT Tressler used to own his own landscaping business. He brought is some of his equipment such as brooms and a leaf blower to help get things cleaned quickly.

Eyes Aloft!!

I've been listening to all kinds of old time radio programs to help me fall asleep. I listened to one that was called Eyes Aloft! And talked about those who were serving in the Aircraft Warning Service at the beginning of WWII. Basically they were volunteers who would spend shifts watching the skies to report any aircraft flying overhead, figuring that if Japan attacked the mainland of the US they would come from the west coast. Since America had no Air Force at the time it was a pretty amazing feat by civilians who wanted to be involved in the war effort. Any aircraft seen was reported to filter center and eventually the information was given to the Army. I am just continually amazed by the unity of people during WWII. Between war bond stamps, rationing, and volunteering to spend 4 hours in the middle of the night in a cold shack watching the skies.